So I just started a new job in january. I walk in and basically know their cocktail menu already, I know about the grapes of wine they sell and how to recommend them, same with their gins and pairing them with certain tonics etc. I'm the most experienced bartender to ever step foot behind their bar.
During the conversation with the owner where he fired me, he even said “you're a great bartender, and I'd rather keep you on.” the issue is a clique of three people (the hostess/supervisor and two bartenders, it's a small place) but apparently I'm not “gelling” with anyone there. The problem isn't everyone, I get along with every non bartender, the bar back loves me, one bartender who doesn't have an ego and just likes learning my tricks and hearing my war stories loves me and we go out drinking sometimes.
Multiple people have commented that the three who have complained to the owner, have been arseholes to me, and the bartender with no ego has commented that I was being given shit detail while the owner/manager was away, and jumped on the grenade and took shit jobs a couple times for me because he thought it was out of order.
My theory; it's because the owner doesn't really believe in titles. I think people are gunning for head bartender and I'm a likelier option than them. But they dont know that one of the arseholes is the head bartender already. If they know it, the rest of us sure as shit don't.
My response was to point out that most of the staff like me, I'm helpful, friendly, hard working, I take as many hours as I can get, show up early when it gets busy if I'm asked to, told him that I've had comments about how I've been treated and asked him to make more enquiries. It was a casual kind of conversation for one that included me being fired, I said at one point that “if you've had a clique form in your business that's going to try and muscle out anyone with more skill and experience than them, you can only go downhill from here.” Which seemed to strike a nerve in a way that works for me. I also pointed out several ways cocktails were being done noticeably wrong, stock not being rotated, bartenders making drinks differently from one another, the spec list (recipe book) isn't relevant because we now use different stock and the garnishes change due to availability, and we now have a dehydrator which has changed half of them.
I then offered to work in a managerial capacity (I may have gotten too ballsy there, I know; I'd just been fired) and get things in line. I was given one weeks notice and he said he was going to make some more enquiries and we'll have another chat before the end of the week.
Think I played it smart but this is bullshit.